Edit: as predicted :)
My naive hypothesis would be that people tend more agnostic as they get older, not more atheistic. Is that a trend you've noticed?
The main difference is simply a difference in opinion of what words mean.
People who use the term "agnostic" are usually going by the formal philosophical definitions of atheism (where atheism requires evidence against God).
People who use the term "atheist" are usually using the more informal definition of atheism (where atheism is simply a lack of belief).
That makes me, in the strictest sense, agnostic.
Seeing as no miracle has ever been proven I'd say the difference will remain academic.
With regard to miracles, the New Testament purports to record many that Jesus and his followers performed, with explicit intent to exhibit Christ's authority over all that plagues humanity. With His ascension they've ceased or become much more rare (I grew up in Pentecostalism, whose adherents believe they're frequent and routine, but I don't think this myself).
So ... right now in 2021 there are tons of disaffected American Evangelical Nationalists, Trump-mongering liars willing to take every QAnon and political conspiracy, meld it with their beliefs and their need to hold on to "The Big Lie" that Trump won the 2020 November election. Their "apostles and prophets" are in a huge echo chamber across the airwaves, YouTube, Facebook, their mega-churches, convincing themselves that Trump is still president, that he will return as President in 2021 July, or August, or by the end-of-the-year. And they have a huge following, and they have inroads to Trump himself and to the Republican political jello (which has no structure, no policy). They could make things uncomfortable in the next two to twenty years or longer. And they've convinced themselves they have the "spiritual technology" and can control God (though they won't put it quite that way) and can decree their political, economic, social will to control the mechanics of American government and society. They are dangerous. ... and per the New Testament apocalyptic literature, at some point will rise a population so given to their delusions they'll be allowed to operate as they want, i.e., to perform those miracles and perform those wonders. So, don't take miracles at face value if ever they happen in your lifetime.
For the worst of the worst right now w.r.t. the Trumpian clamor, check out the "Elijah Streams" YouTube channel where Steve Shulz and his menagerie of false prophets bray for all. For someone who dissects their messages and compares it with Christian scripture, check out Chris Rosebrough (quite conservative) and his "Fighting for the Faith" YouTube channel.
EDIT(s): spelling
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/millennials-are-leaving...
Religion is growing overall: https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-20...
It seems like when you give people education, wealth, and other opportunities, they don't go back to religion.
It's declining reasonably quickly in rich countries like Europe and the United States. Also, note that your article is outdated, the decline of religion in the US has accelerated quite a bit since 2015.
From your article:
> Europe is the only region where the total population is projected to decline. Europe’s Christian population is expected to shrink by about 100 million people in the coming decades, dropping from 553 million to 454 million. While Christians will remain the largest religious group in Europe, they are projected to drop from three-quarters of the population to less than two-thirds. By 2050, nearly a quarter of Europeans (23%) are expected to have no religious affiliation, and Muslims will make up about 10% of the region’s population, up from 5.9% in 2010. Over the same period, the number of Hindus in Europe is expected to roughly double, from a little under 1.4 million (0.2% of Europe’s population) to nearly 2.7 million (o.4%), mainly as a result of immigration. Buddhists appear headed for similarly rapid growth in Europe – a projected rise from 1.4 million to 2.5 million.
> Christians are projected to decline from 78% of the U.S. population in 2010 to 66% in 2050, while the unaffiliated are expected to rise from 16% to 26%.
Also, note that those same countries are growing in population %age and are skyrocketing economically (and joining us online, on HN) while also being religious.
People tend to selfishly forget religion (and their loved ones) in good times, but good times don't stay forever :)
In the developed world religiosity is falling but so are birth rates.
Without it, human becomes alone, depressed, savage, has shorter life-span. And less likely to generate offsprings.
Religion is not key.
Without it, people don't become alone/depressed/etc.
The offspring thing is that wealthy people/nations/communities tend to have less kids since its more expensive per kid and seen as more burdensome to their lives.
- is becoming less religious
- most in that group are becoming alone/depressed/etc.
- It's expensive and burdensome for that group to have offsprings
Then that group is essentially a dead-end and those practices will not expand to more groups. Them being rich isn't helping them.
How is that not a form of natural selection?
There is no link between belief and loneliness.
I live in a largely secular country, people are choosing to not have kids due to the environment and the general satisfaction in their lives without kids.
The same reasons (education and social security) which counter dogma also allow people to make educated choices for their lives.
Religion provides this faith.
It also cures loneliness:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1386462
https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/A-Loneliness-...
If a group:
- is becoming less religious - is becoming more gay - is becoming less white - is becoming more literate - is becoming less starved - is becoming better at typing - is becoming worse at blacksmithing - is becoming better at curing diseases - is becoming worse at writing with a quill - is becoming more vaccinated - is becoming less likely to drive an oldsmobile. - is becoming more likely to drive a toyota. - is becoming more urban - is becoming less rural - is becoming more divided in ideology - is becoming more likely to believe in election fraud
OR (my personal hunch) - is bad at causation/correlation
> Then that group is essentially a dead-end and those practices will not expand to more groups. Them being rich isn't helping them.
>How is that not a form of natural selection?
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Why can't it be the vaccines and toyotas that are causing depression? Maybe darwin should have warned us that city birds don't mate.
Maybe its just bad causation/correlation when viewed through the lens of one facet of historical change.